maca

noun

"maca" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“maca” is an uncommon English word, ranked #73,397 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#73,397
frequency rank, English
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.

Key facts for maca
PropertyValue
Headwordmaca
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#73,397
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maca” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). maca lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for maca is 4 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #73,397 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for maca, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa. The correct English form is maca, spelled M-A-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "maca"?
"maca" is spelled M-A-C-A.
What does "maca" mean?
As a noun, "maca" means: Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.
What is the origin of the word "maca"?
Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “maca”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-C-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list